Parents of a teenage girl who committed suicide just over a year ago, have put the blame on their neighbors, saying it was a Myspace hoax that pushed their daughter over the edge.
Megan Meier ended her life at 13 after her online boyfriend, Josh Evans, began leaving cruel messages on her Myspace account.
"I don't know if I want to be friends with you any longer," said one message, "because I hear you're not nice to your friends."
But it turns out Josh never existed. It was neighboring family who created the character account saying they did it to to find out if Meier would say bad things about their teenage daughter.
"That's the biggest tragedy of the whole thing," says Megan's father, Ron Meier. "An adult did it."
It was shortly after an argument she had with her mother concerning to the cruel Myspace messages that Megan ended her life, hanging herself in a closet.
Tina Meier, Megan's mother, said her daughter had problems with depression and ADD and was on medication but had been happy and it was the slew of messages that prompted the suicide.
The parents have reported the incident to the St. Charles Missouri County sheriffs department which determined that no law had been broken.
They say they will work with lawmakers to pass legislation regulating social networking sites.
"I guess if that's what we have to do that's what we're gonna have to do," said Tina Meier. "The law needs to be changed so it never happens to a family again."
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Comments
#1 sorry
the situation was a tragedy, but my space should not be blamed for this. the girl had issues and probably would have committed suicide at a later date. she was weak, and the world is "survival of the fittest". that may sound brutal, but it is the utmost truth
#2 My space is not to blame
My space is not to blame that witch of a mother is to blame I have a 13 year old and if I found out someone did that to her we would be going at it. You need to grow up that mother did this to her not being adhd or the my space.
#3 Cyber-Harassment is a crime: Megan Meier Tragedy
Here is the link for My Space Terms of Service: http://collect.myspace.com/misc/terms.html
The Megan Meier tragedy is another example of WHY law enforcement and website providers must enforce the laws pertaining to cyber-harassment.
In Illinois, there is a law: 720 ILCS 135/1-2 (http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/documents/072001350K1-2.htm) that clearly states that cyber-harassment is a crime and can be punished with a class B misdemeanor and up to a class 3 or 4 felony. Megan Meier's harasser is in clear violation of My Space terms of service and more than likely Missouri state laws. SHE NEEDS PROSECUTED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT! Remember, Megan's harasser is an ADULT! The intent was there to commit harm to Megan.
I was a victim of cyber-harassment in September 2007 and I found out that law enforcement personnel will ignore your complaints regarding cyber-harassment as they feel you should simply remove yourself from the website that you are being harassed from. I am not here to talk about my experience though but spent many hours researching the topic.
I am 39 years old and unlike Megan Meier learned coping skills along the path of life in how to deal with harassers. Megan was a 13 year old girl who just wanted socialization and acceptance.
I am disgusted at the way law enforcement is NOT recognizing this CRIME.
Megan Meier is another casualty along the way. Do we need to reflect on Columbine and Virginia Tech? The signs were there!
Law enforcement needs to ENFORCE the law.
We all know that emails can be misinterpreted depending on how the person perceives the email; however, Megan Meier's harasser knew exactly what she was doing to this depressed young girl and in my opinion those words were cruel and intentional harm!
It is time for America to wake up and realize the serious of cyber-harassment.
Rachel Simmons, an author I saw speak in the past couple of months, has two excellent books on the topic titled, "Odd Girl Out" and "Odd Girl Speaks Out."There is a DVD titled, "Odd Girl Out" also.
Anti-bullying programs MUST be implemented in the school systems so children have coping skills to deal with potential harassment and know their options.
I don't know Megan Meier or her family but this story makes me want to vomit. It is disgusting how an adult could do this to a young child! I have an 11 year old child and can't imagine how I would handle this situation if some sociopath caused the most important person in my life to end her life.
God bless the family of Megan Meier. There are many out there who want justice just like you deserve!
#4 Parents should look in the mirror
Once again parents who lack any parenting skills are blaming in this case myspace for the death of there daughter. This girl was 13 , any and all of her internet time
should have been monitored by here parents which would have prevented this from ever even happening. For this girl to end her life over being teased or bullied just shows she obviously had some much deeper problems or issues in her life that if her parents would have been willing to give a little more of there time to her instead of letting the computer be her parents, this situation probably would have never reached this point. So before everybody wants to always point there finger at the big bad corparations for all its problems, look in the mirror because as long as we live in a free country services like myspace are not going to police everything that is going on within there service lets start making the people who give birth to people be responsible for the part they take in tragedies like this one, I have 2 children 11 and 14 we keep the computer in the living room area of the house so anytime they are on the internet either my wife or myself are in the room and monitoring what they see and do.
and all sites like myspace are blocked from there use.
#5 Parents SHOULD look in the mirror.
I would like to comment on the anonymous person who seems to be so obvious to judge the already grieving family. I agree that parents should look in the mirror, the parent that staged to hoax and allowed her daugther to be apart of it. This is evil, nothing but evil. I have read many, many different articles on this incident and one thing stuck out was that this mother did have a good handle on her daughter's internet time. It seemed to me that she just was in a hurry this particular day and it slipped through. The mother that staged the whole situation should be punished. She is teaching her child very bad habits and when she grows up we are going to have another adult full of evilness just like the mother that staged the hoax. I would hope that the public would be focusing on the evilness of the hoaxing family and not blaming the already guilt ridden family of the girl who passed. I believe they are placing enough blame on themselves right about now without any help from incencitive humans as the anonymous person above. I do believe laws should be changed and people should pay for there actions but if the law does not punish her then God will.
#6 Family of girl who committed suicide
I listened to the deceased girl's parents on the Today Show. They have ever right to be upset with their "neighbors" who refused to take any part of the blame concerning their daughter's death. Teen life is full self-searching and self-doubt. Unfortunately, this young lady felt depressed and took her life. The "neighbors" who pulled the hoax are responsible for contributing to this tragic event whether they like it or not. What a sorry world we live in. No one is to blame for any actions they take unless it is to be praised. As parents themselves, they should stand up and say they are sorry for their actions and tell the grieving family they are sorry for any suffering their daughter went through because of their stunt. Take repsonsiblity and show the world and your other neighbors, you are not heartless and care about others you hurt.
#7 I agree!
You are so right. As a mother it shocks me that any parent would play with a young girl's mind like that. SHAME ON THEM. I know they will go to their grave riddled with guilt whether they admit it or not. GOOD I hope they do. I hope they think about it every minute of every day and it plagues their brain.
#8 woah
are yuh serioussss?
i would mess them up if iw as yuh
like how could they
.
wow
the neiqhbors shood be in jail